


Friends

by foppishaplomb



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon), DuckTales (Cartoon 1987)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 07:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14539770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foppishaplomb/pseuds/foppishaplomb
Summary: Darkwarrior Duck unmasks Gizmoduck.





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> this is ancient but i only just finished it now. it was for a prompt on the disney lj kinkmeme AGES ago. it's short but at least it's finally written

If Drake were being completely honest with himself, he had been waiting for this for a long time. Too long. Maybe even since a little longer ago than his epiphany. It might have been so long he couldn't trust himself in saying that he didn't lure Gizmoduck here. As if he didn't know Gizmoduck would come just like _Darkwing_ would have come before, as if he hadn't been looking forward to getting it out of the way once and for all. Like a rat into a trap. Like a villain lures a hero.

It was a good thing Drake had gotten pretty good at not being honest with himself.

No, Not Drake. Darkwarrior. He wasn't Drake Mallard, not anymore. _Darkwarrior_ Duck didn't need a secret identity. Heck, even Darkwing hadn't really needed one until he met—

It was best not to think about that.

After all, there were more pressing things to focus on.

“Attention, criminal.”

His voice echoed around the empty street like the screams of criminals once had. He gripped a remote control in one hand. Gizmoduck rolled over the trap without even thinking. It was too easy. For just a moment, Darkwarrior hesitated, but then came that insufferable voice, and Darkwarrior was sure he'd done the right thing.

“Wingy?”

Gizmoduck looked lost and confused, almost small, if the suit hadn't made him hulkingly large. For old times' sake, Darkwarrior decided to give him the red smoke instead of blowing him to ashes right then and there. “I am the terror that hunts in the night.”

Instead of running in fear, like he should have, Gizmoduck wheeled closer, his hand out. “Wingy, I—”

“I'm not finished!” Why did everyone always try to interrupt? “I am the shrapnel lodged in your heart.”

Gizmoduck's beak twisted. “I know entrances are important, but so is this.”

“I am Darkwarrior Duck.”

Darkwarrior rose out of the red smoke and stood before Gizmoduck. In his new getup, he was almost as tall as Gizmoduck was. It felt good not to have to look so far up.

“Launchpad was right,” said Gizmoduck. “I heard the rumors, but until you kicked him out, I didn't really think...” Gizmoduck shook his head. “Wingy, you need to stop this. This isn't what a hero is.”

“As if you know what a hero is,” Darkwarrior sneered. “A hero makes real change. All you do is run around cleaning up Scrooge McDuck's messes.”

“A hero would know when he's going too far!”

“There is no _too far!_ Not when evil still exists, in any shadow, in any nook or cranny, anywhere in St. Canard!”

There was a moment where Gizmoduck didn't say anything. It was so unlike him. Darkwarrior was about to comment, but Gizmoduck spoke first. “You've changed,” he said. He sounded like Launchpad. Darkwarrior didn't know why, but it hurt.

Forget him. Gizmoduck was just another criminal to clean up. Darkwarrior didn't want Gizmoduck to mess up everything he had worked so hard for. Darkwarrior hissed. “I became what my city needed.”

“Darkwing,” said Gizmoduck, soft.

“It's Dark _warrior._ ”

Gizmoduck visibly flinched. Darkwarrior had to bite down a growl. He couldn't believe he'd ever worked with someone so unbearable, someone so holier-than-thou. Like Gizmoduck was really that good of a name anyhow.

Darkwarrior began to pace around him. Gizmoduck turned to follow him, but Darkwarrior held out a finger. “Nuh uh uh. You stay where you are.”

Gizmoduck laughed, rather harshly. “And what are you going to do to make me, _Darkwarrior?_ ”

Darkwarrior laughed back. All he needed was one reason. “Oh, you shouldn't have tested me. I was going to save this, in case you got unruly, but...” Darkwarrior pressed a button on the remote control. “I don't want to.”

Electricity sparked from the conductor panel Gizmoduck was standing over. It sent a shock through the super-suit, making Gizmoduck yelp in pain and surprise. He went to get out of the way, and to take the remote control from Darkwarrior. He saw the suit's arm joints tense and start to move.

And then they fell limp to his sides. Darkwarrior could see Gizmoduck struggling, but the suit didn't move one inch.

“What's the matter, Giz?” he taunted. “Your suit of overpriced armor too heavy? Too weak to move without electricity?”

He stepped over and flipped up the visor. Gizmoduck stared. His eyes were so big. “W-What did you do?”

“See, Giz,” and now Darkwarrior could pace uninterrupted, “I knew you'd be coming, so I set up a little gift for you. Just in case.” Like Darkwarrior hadn't known from the beginning that he'd be using the trap. But no matter. “That shock you felt was a little trick I rigged up just for you. It drained all the energy from your suit, immobilizing you. Except for, of course, the off chance you were actually strong enough to move in that tin can on your own. But I knew you weren't.” Darkwarrior tipped up Gizmoduck's beak with a finger, grinning. “You're nothing without your suit. Just like I always thought.”

“You're... you're building traps for other heroes now? Egad, you're further gone than I thought.”

“Oh, please. I'm doing Duckburg a favor.”

“You've become... you're—you're a villain!” Gizmoduck yapped. It was really starting to get on Darkwarrior's nerves. “You're as bad as what you used to fight!”

“You can drop the act, Giz. We all know it's not your real voice.”

“What do you mean it's not my real voice?” said Gizmoduck, deepening his voice even further.

“If you're going to talk, the least you could do is use your real voice, Gizmoduck.” Darkwarrior chuckled. “Or should I say... Fenton.”

“W-what?” Oh, he dropped the voice now. The horror on Fenton's face was sublime.

“You don't know your own name? You're even stupider than I thought.” Darkwarrior leaned in. Now this—this was what being a detective was all about. “Let me spell it out for you, Fenton Crackshell.”

Fenton was speechless. Darkwarrior lapped it up. This was what he always wanted. This was what Gizmoduck had deserved from the moment he first stole Darkwarrior's spotlight. “Scrooge McDuck's least favorite little lapdog. His accountant. And his worst one, at that.”

Fenton still didn't respond. Darkwarrior spoke for him.

“See, it wasn't hard to figure out. Not once I followed the trail. Launchpad was the connecting link—you can't trust him with anything, can you? Not even friendship.” Darkwarrior's voice went low. “I'm glad I got rid of him when I had the chance.”

“How could you say that?” cried Fenton, finally breaking his silence. “He was your _sidekick_ —”

“And I _don't_ miss him, and you can tell him that! I don't need him. I don't need anyone.” Darkwarrior growled. “Forget it! Forget him. We're talking about you.”

“Once I realized Launchpad was friends with Gizmoduck, all I had to do was find out which. Sure, Launchpad has a lot of friends, but only one who happened to be in town every time Gizmoduck was. Isn't it sad that no one bothered to check you out before me?”

Darkwarrior pressed the other button on his remote. The gizmosuit fell apart, revealing the small, sad little duck inside. Fenton tried desperately to hold it together, but the pieces were too big and too heavy, and he ended up on the ground, surrounded by the debris of his suit. Darkwarrior cackled.

Fenton reached for the helmet and held it in his lap. He was the one looking up at Darkwarrior now. His eyes were brimming over with tears. “I... I-I thought we were friends, Darkwing.”

“It's Darkwarrior.” Darkwarrior kicked him aside. “And we were never friends, Fenton.”

Darkwarrior looked back as he walked into the night, just once. Fenton was still cradling the helmet. Darkwarrior walked away.

 


End file.
